PROFILE

country title in Mizzou history, forced Schweizer It was a moment of realization, followed to adjust her goals yet again. For an encore, she by one of determination, acceleration and won a pair of 2017 national championships in the indoor and outdoor 5,000-meter events, joining jubilation. ! Karissa Schweizer, Mizzou's wrestler J'den Cox as the only MU athletes with nascent distance-running superstar, had three NCAA titles. Schweizer's success has put the program in the na­ her sights set on a top five finish at the tional spotlight. Now, heading into her senior season, NCAA Women's Cross Country Champion­ she is poised to smash SEC records and collect more hardware as one of the nation's premier runners. ship Nov. 19, 2016, in Terre Baute, Indiana. "Karissa has opened recruiting doors for us," Nearing the home stretch, she overtook says Marc Burns, coach of the men's and women's cross-country teams. "There was a time when the Kansas runner for third top Missouri kids wouldn't consider coming to Mizzou on the distance side. Now we are talking place, and it dawned on Schweizer: to all the top kids in Missouri." __She should aim higher.

It Runs in the Familw: +Karissa Schweizer, "I was gaining on the leaders, and they kept look- As All-American distance runners at Minnesota snown here inner tn·-____i_ n_g_b_a_c~k_a_t_m~e-,"-s_a_y_s _S_c_h_w_e-iz_e_r_, _w_h_o~s_h_o=t-t_o _t_h_e _S_t_a-te_U_n_1_·v-e-rs-it_y_, _M_ a_n_k_a-to-,- S-ch_w_ e-iz-e-r'_s_ fa_t_h-er__ _ umphant moment at the front with a late burst of speed known as a "kick." and grandfather, Mike and Frank, know what it NCAA Women's Cross "When I finally passed [leader of Mich- means to push themselves. Frank is a legendary Country Championship, is the only female athlete igan], I thought,

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32 MIZZOUMAGAZINE The Schweizers, however, didn't push Karissa gene, Oregon, where Schweizer won her third Catch Them onto the track. She came to love running of her national title, Burns urged her to assert control If You Can own accord. early and to dictate the pace of the race. Schweiz­ "She was always a little timid when it came er was reluctant at first, being used to hanging to physical contact in volleyball, basketball or back and relying on that signature kick. "I said, soccer," says Frank, who still talks to his grand­ 'I think you're at the level where you should just daughter the night before every race. "At her first go out there and destroy everybody,' " Burns says. track practice in the fifth grade, the coaches put "We know when you drop the hammer, there's Karissa about six rows back in a group of 50 or no one who can hang with you. The night before 60 boys and girls. The race started and she shoved the race, she finally said, 'Yeah, you're right.' " her way up front (to win). That's when I realized Burns says that, after college, Schweizer can she does have an aggressive side; she just had to push herself to another training level and in­ find the right outlet. The track was that place." crease her mileage. Professional distance run­ Competition was just as fierce at the family's ners don't have to pace themselves through the Urbandale, Iowa, home. Younger brother Ryan, NCAA's three-pronged cross-country, indoor now a runner at Notre Dame University, younger and outdoor seasons. sister Kelsey, a track athlete at Dowling Catholic Schweizer also proved she can compete with High School, and Karissa were always teasing the sport's elite when she finished fourth in a field and challenging each other - albeit (usually) loaded with American record holders and Olym­ Running comes naturally good-naturedly. pians at the USA Championships to Karissa Schweizer's "Karissa is really strong-willed," says Kelsey, June 24 in Sacramento, California. She bested one family. Clockwise from who anchored a championship 4x800 relay squad Olympian and might have finished higher, had top: Grandpa Frank was in May at the in Des Moines, Iowa. she not made a tactical error attempting to pass an All-American at Min­ "She has taught me not to give up when you want a more experienced runner on the inside. She cut nesota State University, to. Only give up when you have to." off Schweizer and forced her around the pack. Mankato. Mom, Kathy, At the Honda Cup Sports Award ceremony Schweizer, now the face of the Mizzou cross­ ran Boos and isoos in in Los Angeles, where Karissa was a finalist for country program, will be running with a prover­ college. Younger sister, national female athlete of the year, she summed bial target on her back while SEC opponents try to Kelsey, is just getting up her personality in three words: competitive, catch up in 2017-18. She'll also be leading the pack warmed up in high determined and a little sassy. for one of the nation's up-and-coming programs. school. Brother, Ryan, "For someone as good as she is, she's very "I enjoy the whole process of the race, not just runs for Notre Dame Uni­ humble," says MU's Burns. "She's a polite, Mid­ the running," Schweizer says. "I am motivated versity, and dad, Mike, western kid from Iowa, but underneath it all, she's by a desire to be the best I can be, to show that followed in his father's a competitive beast." all of the hard work has paid off and to see how cleat steps as an All­ much more I can do." M American at Mankato. r111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111_.

The Ne:Et Gear Schweizer's hereditary edge and natural determi­ nation alone would probably be enough to make her one of the nation's best distance runners. Mix in an injury-free career - virtually unheard of for a college runner entering her senior season - and the advantage is tremendous. Fortune has smiled on Schweizer, to be sure, but she is also dedicated to nutrition and self-care, and she pos­ sesses a keen awareness of her body's limits. '~ny time I get a little knee or hip pain, I go to the trainers right away and tell them what's up," says Schweizer, who hopes to pursue a career in physical training or nutrition. '~nd this year, I started going to bed a little earlier than normal." The next phase? Ramping up her killer in­ stinct. Before the NCAA Championships in Eu-

>- 0: 0: => -+Karissa Schweizer dominates competition during day u four of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, June 10, in w --, Eugene, Oregon.

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